District 93 Expansion Reactions

Last week the Bonneville School District 93 held a meeting to propose a new bond that would bring a few more schools into the area.

“I truly feel like the best school system we can provide attracts people into our community makes our community a better place,” commented the district’s Director of School Improvement and Technology, Scott Woolstenhulme.

Improving the community is a goal that most residents of Bonneville County have, but at what price?

District 93’s superintendent Dr. Charles Shackett said: “There were several with concerns about debt and taxes going up, and we were expecting that, but the majority of people, we asked how many would support the bond and the majority raised their hand.”

A $92 million bond isn’t going to come cheap. If it passes, it will likely raise taxes per taxpayer about $10 to $11 per month. Even with this increase, support has been overwhelming.

“And about 87% are saying they would support the bond for $92 million,” comments Woolstenhulme.

The 87% that Scott is talking about comes from the online survey that the district has posted. About 500 people have taken the survey so far, they are hoping to double that in the next week. Even if you don’t have kids going through the school system, officials still want your opinion.

“The reality is to build the schools it requires an increase in property taxes and so it will definitely affect business owners in the community and it’ll affect, like I said, people that have had kids go through school and don’t have kids in school right now or those young families who are waiting for their kids to come,” said Woolstenhulme.

The students are getting their voices heard on this issue, and Hillcrest High School has spoken. The lead story in the Knight Times today was how they’re bursting at the seams and ready for something different.

“Yes, their parents are the tax payers, but we wanted to know from the kids what are you experiencing right now from the overcrowding and what plan would you prefer,” said Superintendent Shackett.

Most of the students are in favor of building a third high school as well, but that doesn’t mean the case is closed. The survey will be open for about one more week. It quickly explains the 4 different options, 2 of which don’t require the $92 million bond. If you have a few minutes to give your opinion you can find that at d93future.com